Accelerator attachment for automobiles.



W. 0. WARNES. ACCELERATOR ATTACHMENT FOR AUTOMOBILES.

I APPLICATION FILED QC. 28y 1914 1 ,1 84,903. Patented May 30, 1916.

2 $HET$-$HEET W. 0. WARNES. ACCELERATOR ATTACHMENT FOR AUTOMOBILES.

1,1 84,903 Patented May 30,1916,

2-$HEET8-$H[ET 2J APPLICATION FILED OCT. 28.1914.

4%? i? 6 556 5: fizz/621757" iili i iiiED STATES PATENT GFFHJE.

OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO FRANK G.

BUSH, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

ACCELERATCB ATTACHMENT FOR AUTOMOBILES.

Application filed October 28, 1914.

' t e throttle valve and so governing the speed foot of the driv r 01 the engine, such device being generally known as an accelerator. i

The obiccts of the present invention are to provide anatcelei' actuated by the i may be operated the engine to that from the oppo; on which the c A. further 9 so arrange t accelerator the ablemovcment of sa-i valve without actuating er disturbing any hand operated accelerator which way he in place upon the car, and to so arrange the. 1-; ction from the foot accelerator to the lve as to permit or" the free and unimpa ed use of the hand accelerator if the same should be desired.

A further object of the invention is to provide an accelerator of the class described, which will be extremely cheap and simple of manufacture, will contain no involved or delicate parts, which could in any wise become impaired during ordinary use and destroy the elliciency of the device, and to so construct the parts forming the attachment as to enable them to be placed on the car without any alteration in the structure thereof, except the boring of one small hole in the toe board of the floor of the car,. and after their placement allow of their ready removal, if the same should-,be necessary for any reason.

The invention further cons turcs of confirmation cc parts hereinafta do In the drawin showing diagra m gether with portions anisms of an autoinobi of the car body, and f1 accelerator attachment vention in operative p059.

'1 p showing the ma present in- Fig. 2 is a side Specification of Letters Patent.

view of certain portions of the car the opening and Patented Ma so, 1916.

Serial No. 869,085.

elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 1 with the steering rod removed; Fig. 3 is a plan mechanism with the parts comprising the attachment of the present invention in the positions assumed when the foot pedal is operated to open the throttle valve; Fig. 4 is a view sirmlar to Fig. '3 showing the position assumed by.the parts when the throttle valve is open by actuation of the hand accelerator; Fig. 5 is a section showing the connection between the rod of the hand operated accelerator mechanism and the connection to the throttle valve; and Fig. 6 is a detail showing one form of foot rest capable of use in conjunction with the present invention.

As stated, the present invention relates to an attachment adapted to be used upon an automobile for the purpose or controlling closing of the throttle valve of the engine and thus controlling the speed of the same, Owing to the fact that in most instances the speed of the engine will be almost constantly cause of the varying conditions met during driving, it is extremely advantageous to arrange some form of mechanism tor controlling the engine speedwhich is quickly and easily operated by the driver. As stated, the control of the engine speed is brought about by the opening and closing of the throttle valve and the most satisfactory wayof controlling this valve, is by means of a pedal placed in the floor of the car and adjacent the clutch, brake and other pedals used for governing the driving of the can.

In certain types of cars it is extremely difficult to arrange foot pedal for accelerating purposes. This is particularly true ofwthat type of car known as the Ford, because of the fact that in this type of car the aring Wheel is located upon the left hand side of the engine, and the carburetor upon the right hand side so that any connection to the throttle valve must cross from the left side ,of the engine .to the right.

Owing to the fact that the driver sits on the increased or decreased be;

type of car, it must be. hand side of the car. For the above reason, the type of car above referred to, namely, the Ford, is equipped with a hand operated accelerator which is located just below the steering wheel, and in grading the speed of the engine the driver must necessarily be moving the finger piece of the hand accelerator back and forth necessitating the maintenance of both hands continuously upon the steering wheel while driving, and rendering useless for all practical purposes, one hand for steering purposes, this hand being employed in operating the hand accelerator. This hand method is, therefore, not a satisfactory way of controlling accelerat on, it being a great deal more convenient and satisfactory to control the speed of the engine by the footof the driver, leaving his hands entirely free for steering placed on the left purposes.

In the present invention a device is set rth for producing acceleratlon by means which the carburetor is located and the device therefore is particularly and especially adapted for use with the Ford car, al-

.though, of course, the invention is in no ticularl to F1 1. the device is shown in t:

connection with a motor 7 and adjacent the motor located a carbureter 8. In the construction shown an arm 9 extends outward from said carburetor, and the movements of this arm actuates a butterfly or other valve in the manifold of the engine, such valve being termed a throttle valve. The foregoing arrangement of parts is characteristic of the Ford car, although the mechanism of this type of car is used only for illustrative purposes, and is not deemed to be a limitation on the present invention. In the type of automobile illustrated in the drawbureter, and this steering post extends up through the dash of the car and has affixed at its outer end the usual steering wheel, not shown. The usual pedals 11 are located in the toe board of the floor of the car and below the steering wheel, and, therefore, the logical'position for the foot accelerator in such a type of car is on that side of the car upon which is located the steering wheel in this position.

The attachment which. connects to the arm 9 and controls the movements of the throttle valve, forms the. subject matter of the pres ent invention, and consists of a link or rod 12 which extends crosswise of the engine and through the space casing to the opposite side of the engine, said link is connected at one end 14 to the arm 9 and is formed with a loop or bend l5 1ntermediate its ends. Engaging with said loop or bend is one end of a rod or link 16, the other end of said link being connected to an arm 17 of the bell crank lever 18, which lever is supported by a bracket or support 19 e lever moves or swings about a p I which joins it to this In the type of motor illustrated the water pipe 21 1s attached to the left hand side of the engine, and is connected up tothe engine casing by I the accelerator attachment of the present going it will be readily can be attached to the car structure without any trouble or inconvenience or without in such structure utiallmotors of this type.

he arm 23 of the. bell crank connected thereto one end of a 24.. Th

lever 18 has rod or link and in the construction shown is an integral part of said rock 'm 25 extends through suitable journals or the floor of the car.

Fig. 1, lies adjacent to pedals of the car; that and high and low the ordinary control is the brake, clutch speed pedals. In order to enable the foot to remain steady on the pedal, 2. foot rest 30 is attached to the floor of the car and located adjacent to the pedal, and as shown in Fig. 1 at the side thereof. The type of car known as the Ford employs a hand control for this throttle valve which hand control isoperated by actuation of a finger piece usually located just below the steering wheel, which finger piece is connected to a rod 31 which extends parallel to the steering rod and is rocked by actuation of the finger piece above described. This finger piece connection is so well known placing a washer on the bolt.

in the art that illustration of the same is not deemed necessary in connection with the present invention- In the present invention an arm 32 is attached to the rod 31, and this arm receives at its free end a crosswise extending stem 33, terminating in a head 34 through which passes, with a sliding fit, the link 12. A washer 35 is fixed to the end of the link 12- and lies as shown beyond the stern and the head 34 abuts against the ar 35 with the part as shown in Fig. 1. l tier ill from head 33 to the loop 15 and encircling said rod is a coil spring in the type of car wheel is .pcn one side of the engine and the carburetor and throttle valve upon the other, there must, of course, be a cross connection for the purpose of controlling the movementof the throttle valve. In theconstructicn of the present Ford car this connectiun merely a rod connected at one end to an arm similar to the arm 32, which arm oxtends from a rod similar to the rod 31, and connected at its other end to the throttle valve. Therefore to apply the attachment of the present invention to a car of this type, all that need be done, is to take out the conn f on between the rod 31 and the carbuplace the stem 33 in the hole in the arm 'here the steering 32 in which the previous connection was in sorted, thereby placing in position one end of the link 12, then attach'the other end of the link 12 to the carburetor, place in position the bracket 19. bore the small hole through the toe board, place the rock shaft 36 and arm 25 in position and thou place the links 16 and '24 in position. This method .hment, as will be apparent, is extrcm. v .mple, can be performed by the car owner lumself, does not need the service of a mechanic, does not require any change or disarrangcment in the steering or other control mechanisms of the car, does not, in any way, interfere with any other of the car mechanisms. and can be removed and positioned at will in a very short time and with no trouble or inconvenience. The operation is as follows:

When the position of the throttle is con trolled by pressure of the foot of the driver, he places his foot upon the foot rest 30 and by a side wise rocking of the foot presses it down upon, or raises it Such movements rock the shaft 26, pushing the arm 25 toward the front of the car.

This pushes the link 24 forward, rocking the bell crank 18, and forcing the arm 17 of the bell crank lever 18 in a circular path of travel which carries it in a. direction away from the engine. This pulls the link 16 in the direction of movement of the arm 17, and pulls the link 12 in adirection away from the carburetor, actuating the arm 9 and opening the throttle valve. Asthe link 12 from the pedal 29.

, opposite s moves the loop or bend 15 therein, of course moves simultaneously. The link 12 during such movement slides through the opening in the head 34 of the stem 33, carrying the washer 35 away from said head and COIll- 7O pressing the spring 36 between the head 34. and loop 15, all of which will be apparent from Fig. 3 of the drawing. The link 12 is thus placed under spring tension, and when the foot is released from the pedal 29, this spring acts toforce said link toward the carbureter, pushing back the arm 9 and closing the throttle valve. This link 16 is pulled by the action of the link 12 to rock the bell crank lever 18 and swing the arm 30 23 thereof toward the back of the car, pushing the link 24: back, forcing the arm 2 back and turning the rock shaft 26 to move the foot pedal 29 back to raised position.

It will be apparent that by movement of 5 the foot, the driver can-control at will the opening and closing of the throttle valve and thus regulate and control the speed of the car by movement of the foot. Such control, by movement of the foot, as has heretofore been stated, has been found in practice to be the proper and effective method of control. Owing to the slip connection between the link 12 and the head 34 of the stem 33, movement of the link 12 pro- 5 duced by operating the pedal 29, will not move or afiect in any way the hand control means for operating the throttle. But'it' it should be desired to use the hand control means, this can be accomplished by operating the finger piccc, thereby rocking the rod 31, which will swing the arm 33, carrying the stem 31 away from the engine casing as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 5 and by reason of the head ill engaging with the washer 5 35 the rod 12 will be drawn back, as illustrated in Fig. 4, and the arm 9 actuated with the resultant opening of the throttle valve. If it is desired to close the valve by the hand operated means the rod 31 is rocked by proper operations of the finger piece, the arm 31 is moved toward the engine casing, as shown by full lines in Fig. 5, and by reason of the spring interposed between the head 3& of this arm and the loop 15 in the rod 12, said rod will be moved forward and the valve closed.

I claim:

1. In combination with an automobile structure having a carburetor and throttle 12o valve on. one side of the engine and a. steering wheel upon the opposite side thereof, a link extcndi .O'ifi the throttle valve in a direction cross vise of the engine and to the Y i c thereof, a bend in said link, a foot piece cpcrable from the steering wheel side of the car, a. connection between said foot pit-cc and the bend in the link, a h' od operatcd member. a connection between Uh; hand-operated member and that portion of the link lying beyond the bend, said connection embodying a member extending crosswise of the link through which the link passes with a. sliding fit, and means on the link lying beyond said member and adapted to be engaged and moved by said member, and. compressible means extending between 5 d mezixncr and the bent portion of the substantially as described.

n combination with an automobile ul'Q having a carburetcr and throttle i one side of the engine and a her-i upon the opposite side therei 4: extending from the throttle valve in a direction crosswise of the engine and to the opposite side thereof, a foot piece operable from the steering wheel side of the engine, a link and lever connection between the foot piece and the crosswise extending link, said connection joining said crosswise extending link at a point intermediate the ends of said link, a hand operated member, a connection between the hand operated member and the crosswise link joining said link beyond the point of juncture of the foot piece connection with the link, said hand operated connection embodying a member extending crosswise which the link passes with a sliding fit, an abutment on the link beyond said member with which said member engages when the hand operated member is moved whereby a movement of the crosswise extending link is effected and resilient means interposed between said member and the point of juncture of the foot iece connection with said crosswise extending link, substantially as described.

3. In combination with an automobile structure having a carburcter valve on one of said link and through side of the engine and a steering-wheel on the-opposite side thereof, a link extending from the throttle valve in a direction crosswise of the engine and to the opposite side thereof, a loop formed in said link the length thereof and lying in a horizontal plane and extending toward the rear of the automobile structure, a bell-crank lever, means for supporting said lever, a link having a swivel connection at one end with said bend and a pivotal connection at its other end to one arm of the bell-crank lever, and said pivotal connection being located in advance of the bend in said link, a footpiece operable from the steering-wheel side of the car, and a second link connecting said foot-piece and the other arm of the lever, whereby a pull is exerted on the cross link by the actuation ofthe foot-lever, moving said cross link longitudinally of itself with a rectilinear movement, a hand operated member, a connection between the hand op erated member and the crosswise link joining said link beyond the point of juncture of the foot-piece connection with the link, said hand operated connection embodying a. member extending crosswise of said link, and through which the link passes with a sliding fit, an abutment on the link beyond said member, with which said member engages when the hand operated member is moved, whereby a movement of the crosswise extending link is effected, and resilient means for moving said link in one direction, substantially as described.

WILLIAM O. WARNES.

Witnesses:

WM. P. Bonn, SAMUEL \V. BANNING.

medially 1 

